The Grand Canal of China (II: Cities) - Game Information

A very difficult, but excellent game!

I have oriented this map so that East is at the top. I decided to do this because the canal is long North to South, and the PurposeGames space is long left to right. So a simple 90 degree rotation, and it fits better, allowing a larger version of the map to be used.

As far as the game goes, it does add an element of unfamiliarity, which is OK because both my canal games are fairly simple.

There is another point worth noting. In the age before compasses became widely used, North was not the top of the map, East was. People would point their maps to the direction of sunrise.

"Orient" was a term for "East", so aligning the map was orienting it, and that's where the term "Orient" picked up the meanings of adjusting or aligning an object, getting one's bearings, etc. That's not why I chose the rotated map, but it certainly fits the theme.

More about the Grand Canal Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_of_China

See this map on its home page here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Modern_Course_of_Grand_Canal_of_China.png

The file comes with a GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2

Details:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License